The present invention relates to a timepiece, and more particularly to a novel timepiece which exactly indicates the approximate time but only rarely, if ever, indicates the exact numeric time correct to the minute.
Modern timepieces have become extremely precise within a relatively short period of time. Over the last fifty years, timepieces have progressed from being wound by hand, to wound by wrist movement, to a battery-operated quartz movement, and finally to a movement which daily checks for accuracy with a national time standard and resets itself accordingly.
This enhancement in precision timekeeping has been matched by an increase in the precision in the way time is indicated by the timepiece. The precision of the now popular digital readouts (such as the digital LED readouts) avoid the difficulty in attributing the exact location of analog hands and permit a precise digital time to be conveyed.
Nowadays one is almost ashamed to read the time in an oral conversational term such as "it's about three," "just past three," "a little after three," "almost a quarter past three," "about a quarter after three," between a quarter and half past three," "coming up to half past three," "half past three," and the like. These conversational terms include the exact numeric time to the minute only at integral multiples of 15 minutes--for example, "it's exactly three, it's exactly a quarter past three, it's exactly half past three". Also the words "noon," "midday" and "midnight" are used to describe the appropriate 12 o'clock hour.
While it may be argued that the precision with which we tell time merely reflects the "time is money" business attitude prevalent nowadays, the present invention is based on the belief that, where possible, dealing with time in a less precise way may be psychologically therapeutic.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a timepiece for indicating the approximate time.
Another object is to provide such a timepiece which, in a preferred embodiment, indicates the approximate time, either visually or orally, in conversational terms.
A further object is to provide such a timepiece which, in a preferred embodiment, either never indicates the exact numeric time correct to the minute or indicates the exact numeric time correct to the minute only on integral multiples of 15 minutes.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a timepiece which, in a preferred embodiment, uses different terms to tell the same time on different occasions.
It is another object to provide such a timepiece which is inexpensive and easy to manufacture, maintain and use.